Editorial: More work to go on Obamacare

Posted:
04/08/2014 09:52:54 PM MDT

President Obama announced last week that 7.1 million people had signed up for private health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. It was a celebratory speech, because the administration had met its sign-up projections before last week's deadline.

"This law is doing what it's supposed to do," Obama said. "It's working."

Really, though, it's too soon to say.

Getting people to sign up is only part of making the law work, and the sign-up process, even if the projections were met, was anything but smooth. Remember when the Obamacare website crashed last year on the first day of enrollment? The rollout was a disaster.

The bigger test is yet to come — we can judge the system only now that people are in the system.

One gauge will be how premiums trend. The White House might have its own projections on premium costs, but only time will show how they behave under ACA.

Another gauge is whether the administration is successful in attracting healthy young people to the program. Inclusion of this demographic in the ACA rolls is crucial to its success.

The ACA is Obama's signature domestic accomplishment, and his legacy rests largely on whether it works or fails. Opponents once called for the law's repeal, but those efforts are all but abandoned, so every American now has an interest in seeing the act succeed. In his speech, Obama acknowledged ACA's imperfections and problems, but he said its on the right track.

"The idea that everybody in this country can get decent health care — that goal is achievable," Obama said.

The implication in that statement is correct. The goal has not yet been achieved.